Speaker Kevin McCarthy has reportedly ordered Republican members of the House to gather investigative kindling for an impeachment of President Joe Biden based on the unconventional entrepreneurship of his son, Hunter Biden, perhaps sensing a national nostalgia for impeachment proceedings. McCarthy vowed that they would follow the evidence wherever it led.
Similar to the Republican probe of Benghazi in 2012, which spent $7 million without finding any evidence of wrongdoing by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or the executive branch, the likely destination of the McCarthy express is nowhere. McCarthy, unlike in the Trump and Clinton impeachments, reportedly did not have enough support to pass a full House vote, so he had to order the committees into initiating the impeachment probe. But there’s another one, as revealed by Punchbowl News this week. Almost certainly, the site said, House Republicans will impeach Biden.
Given this, rather than acting as a punching bag, Biden would do well to take a page out of Trump’s defence playbook and use the allegations against him to advance his political career.
Even if the Republicans were to show photos of Biden bathing nude in a Scrooge McDuck-style vault full of ill-gotten money, the virtually equally split Senate would never vote to condemn Biden. If you believe that the present uproar is largely about political posturing ahead of the upcoming presidential race, then Biden needs to pick himself up off the ground and get back on his bicycle.
Being the subject of an investigation is bad for one’s political standing. It casts suspicion on the person, almost to the point of guilt unless he puts up a struggle. Biden would be well to study Trump’s inquiry tactics, as no modern politician has capitalised on them more effectively.
Biden can dispute the allegations without resorting to Trump-like tactics like 1) outright lying, 2) smearing everyone within yelling distance, and 3) making death threats against investigators and prosecutors.
Assuming the nebulous accusations levelled against Biden are largely groundless, the former vice president may emerge from his underground lair and begin turning the Republican garbage into campaign gold. (However, he’s out of luck if the charges are serious.) The Republican probe, which has devolved into a personal attack on the candidate rather than an examination of his programmes, is a classic example of the perils of negative campaigning. Biden’s popularity would increase if he would just embarrass and mock the Republicans instead of ignoring them. It’s likely that many people have forgotten that the elderly man is still president, which contributes to Biden’s dismal showing in the polls.
He would have to separate his political future from his son’s legal future if he were to stand up for himself, something he has refused to do in the past but should have done long ago. Federal prosecutors appear ready to indict Hunter Biden, taking the situation out of his hands; with the presidency on the line, Biden would be foolish to continue dancing around the problem. Is there anything Donald Trump would do if he were in this situation? He would throw away Eric and Don Jr. for peanuts.
Trump’s now-famous words, “In the end, they’re not coming after me,” have become a punchline. He always hears, “They’re coming after you — and I’m just standing in their way,” whenever the cogs of justice begin to spin against him. The time may have come for Biden to sever his ties to Hunter, and one phrase he may attempt is, “They’re coming after Hunter to get to me.” Which (it seems to me) is not too far from the truth. Biden might also make a reasonable parallel to the disastrous Benghazi hearings, in the off chance that anyone outside of Washington remembers them, as an earlier example of a Republican Congress stirring up a phoney probe for political advantage.
Biden could do what Trump does in reaction to every charge, subpoena, hearing, and investigation by casting the impeachment process as a political tactic, which it is. Trump’s fundraising appeals reach his supporter base like a blanket and bring in money like McDuck. He may increase his dismal approval ratings and fund-raising efforts by portraying his impeachment as a heroic act of political martyrdom. The public’s perception of Biden wouldn’t suffer if he were recast as a cutting action figure rather than an 80-year-old wax dummy. Biden might use a thousand surrogate defenders to jawbone the investigative Republicans, similar to what President Bill Clinton did during his impeachment ordeal. There is no shortage of Democrats who are willing to pick up the mantle and run with it on his behalf. The White House’s threatening tone towards the media this week, in which it urged them to investigate the GOP’s impeachment festival, was only a spark when a bonfire was needed.
Sure, Joe, cry political persecution. It’s a fight you’re in, whether you like it or not. This could very well be your final vote as an elected official. Don’t lose points by nodding off.
